


Scrabble

by spookyscaryskeletons (Buttons15)



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22095529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buttons15/pseuds/spookyscaryskeletons
Summary: It all boiled down to this: from the beginning, Kristoff had known Elsa, ‘you-can’t-marry-a-man-you-just-met’ Elsa, would be tough to win over. She was a queen. He was a man whose main occupation was talking to reindeer and cutting ice.  She’d been raised to follow the fine etiquette of Arendelle’s aristocracy. He had been raised by trolls.And he was in love with her sister.And it all boiled down to this: to ask for Anna’s hand in marriage, to get engaged to a princess, he first needed permission from the queen.--in which kristoff wants to marry anna, but for that he needs the queen's permissionand the queen is a little scary
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 261





	Scrabble

It all boiled down to this: from the beginning, Kristoff had known Elsa, ‘you-can’t-marry-a-man-you-just-met’ Elsa, would be tough to win over. She was a queen. He was a man whose main occupation was talking to reindeer and cutting ice. She’d been raised to follow the fine etiquette of Arendelle’s aristocracy. He had been raised by trolls.

And he was in love with her sister.

It all boiled down to this: from the beginning, Kristoff knew Elsa was a cool-headed, logically-minded person. And he wasn’t sure he was the most logical choice. But he’d hit the books, buried himself in rules and norms, because he was determined to do things right. He’d been raised by trolls, not by savages, damn it.

And it all boiled down to this: to ask for Anna’s hand in marriage, to get engaged to a princess, he first needed permission from the queen. They’d been dating for three years without any objections from Elsa. That was good. And while he wouldn’t say Elsa had exactly warmed up to him – _warming up_ was hardly a thing she did – he felt confident they had a good relationship. They’d gone from handshakes to hugs, from hard-eyed scrutiny to bingo nights together. That was also good.

But Elsa did things by the book. With Elsa, it was duty first. And Kristoff, like it or not, wasn’t a noble of a foreign nation with whom Arendelle wanted better diplomatic relations. He wasn’t even an Arendellian noble, despite having his bravery rewarded with lordship by Elsa herself. He knew he wasn’t the _real_ deal. And he was terrified.

“You’ve been in your head all day,” Anna complained as she helped him unload his sled. It was unbecoming of a princess to take part in such cheap manual work, or so most would think. But not Anna. Anna did everything with a spark in her eyes. Anna loved the world, loved life.

And Kristoff loved Anna. “Huh?” he mumbled, completely proving her point. “Yeah, I’m just. Just thinking.”

He slapped Sven’s behind, and the reindeer huffed in satisfaction as he removed his saddle and set him free for the evening. “I can see that. You get this expression on your face,” she moved closer, poked her index finger against his forehead, and he caught himself smiling. “All frowny. You’ll get wrinkles. What’s on your mind?”

Kristoff hesitated. Saying it might sound weird, but as a rule, he found honesty was a good policy, and Anna could read him like an open book. “Your sister.”

Anna tilted her head. It made a strand of her bangs fall over her eyes, and she blew it away. “Elsa? What about her?”

He was fortunate that talking about her sister was one of Anna’s favorite topics. “Do you think, you know.” He shrugged. “Do you think she likes me? Because uh,” he rubbed his nape. “We’ve been dating for almost three years now. Do you think she sees me as family?”

“Hmm.” Anna took a moment to think, which gave him a twinge of anxiety. Anna was smart, but she was also one to blurt things out quickly, so the mere fact that she paused to consider his questions told him the answer was going to be complex. And he didn’t want a complex answer. He wanted a simple ‘yes, absolutely.’

Anna licked her lips. “It can be hard with Elsa, telling the difference between someone she likes and someone she just tolerates.”

“Right?!” He made an exasperated sound. It was like this, with Anna – how she seemed able to, from a few simple sentences, get to the core of what anguished him. It scared him a little, being that exposed, that vulnerable. But it was Anna, and so it was okay. “I – I mean. She’s polite with me, but she’s polite with everyone else. The one other thing I have as reference is her relationship to you, but I can’t expect her to treat me like she treats you –” He was rambling, and so he stopped.

Anna snorted, her lips curling into an amused little smirk. “She likes you.”

“How can you tell?”

Anna shrugged and hopped over to his side of the cart. “Sister telepathy.”

“That’s not a thing,” he leaned in, planted a kiss on her cheek, then hesitated. “…is it?”

She giggled, a sound of pure delight that was contagious and made him smile without meaning to. Anna tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear and pecked him on the lips. He felt his cheeks burn. Three years dating her, and even the tiniest gestures of affection hadn’t lost their magic.

Kristoff didn’t think they ever would. He turned away to hide his blush, and Anna took his hand. “Sister telepathy is definitely a thing. See, right now I feel the need to scratch my left ear,” she did it as she spoke, “And Elsa is lefthanded, so this can only mean Elsa sensed we were talking about her.”

“Um. Uh.” He was already spooked enough by Elsa without having to consider whether she was psychic. “Well then, I hope she knows it’s all good things we’re talking about.” And then, from the bottom of his heart, he managed to grumble out a single feeling. “I love her. Uh.” Realizing how it sounded, he went for on to clarify, “Like a sister, not, um, not like how I love you, of course. Like _your_ sister but she feels like my sister too –”

Anna burst out laughing. He felt the warmth spread from his cheeks to his ears. “You’re so awkward, it’s endearing. Don’t worry, sweetheart,” she had a knowing smile, a twinkle in her eyes he couldn’t quite understand. “Nothing, and I mean _nothing_ could worry me less than the possibility of my sister stealing my man.” She snorted. “Or anyone’s man.”

Kristoff frowned. “Of course she wouldn’t. She’s a very moral person – and! And I’m not that kind of guy, either!”

“Mm-hmm.”

He rubbed his face. He was, as always, having trouble with keeping a conversation with Anna on track. Her amusement was evident. She interlaced their fingers. With the day’s work done, he let her guide him through the streets of the city. Sometimes, she’d take him to the pier to watch the sunset. Sometimes, she’d drag him between market stalls, stopping to grab all sorts of weird snacks.

And Kristoff was a man of patterns, rules and routine, which made it odd of him to enjoy these moments of chaotic energy and randomness so much. Except it was Anna,the woman who turned his world inside out, showed him beauty where he least expected it. “Where are we going?”

Anna smiled, shrugged. She never told him their destination, and Kristoff wasn’t quite sure she actually knew where they were going before they got there. “What’s up with all the Elsa questions, anyway?”

“I… have a favor I need to ask of her. Sort of.” That was a terrible way of putting it, but it was the best he could come up with while also dodging pedestrians.

“Want my advice?” Anna squeezed his hand, interlaced their fingers.

Kristoff could envelop her whole tiny palm between his calloused fingers, and though Anna was not the sister with powers, her hands were always ice cubes. He took some odd satisfaction from providing her with that warmth, small gesture as it may be. “You don’t want to know what the favor is?”

“Of course I want to know what the favor is,” She elbowed him in the ribs. “But I figured if you wanted to share it, you’d either tell me right away or, well,” She arched an eyebrow at him. “Ask me, you know. I _am_ princess. I can only wonder what the queen can do for you that a princess cannot, hmm?”

“I – uh, it’s just,” he stammered, stopped. “Nothing suspicious, I swear.”

Anna was grinning when she came to an abrupt stop. Kristoff looked around, reoriented himself. They stood by the door in front of a shop, no nameplate. When Anna opened the door, a delicious sweet smell reached his nose. He found himself salivating instantly.

“It’s my favorite, secret chocolate spot,” Anna explained. The owner was an old lady and Anna waved at her on her way in. Kristoff barely had time to raise his hand before being dragged along. “They make the best fondues.”

“Fondues,” He repeated, and then Anna was already shoving something into his mouth. He chewed, his taste buds assaulted by a wonderful taste. “This is great,” he mumbled with his mouth still full, then remembered his manners and covered it with his palm.

“Of course it is,” Anna winked. “A sweet for my sweet.” She leaned in, pressed their lips together. She tasted of chocolate. She tasted of love. “And Kristoff, about Elsa?”

“Hmm?”

“Just say the thing. Don’t beat around the bush. Elsa appreciates directness. And she does like you, you big doofus.”

“Sister telepathy?”

“No, she told me herself,” Anna chirped, smiled.

And then she filled her mouth with chocolate again.

* * *

“It’s not that I’m afraid of her,” He walked over to the room’s door, stopped, turned around, walked back. “I mean, I am, but I’m not.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not afraid of her…” he wiggled his fingers. “Ice thing. I mean, how could I ever be afraid of ice? I love ice. Ice is my work. Ice was my whole life, before – well, before Anna stole the spotlight.”

Kristoff crossed his arms, sighed, and tapped his foot on the ground.

To his side, Sven grunted.

 _You’re talking to the reindeer again, you freak,_ the sensible part of his mind reminded him. Kristoff ignored it and resumed his pacing. “I’m not afraid of her magic, Sven, of course not.” It was fortunate that the stables were big enough to hold him and all his anxious energy. “No, this is a different kind of scared. I’m scared of her just like I’m scared of Anna. Well, no, that’s different, too. Gods damn it, why is love so hard?”

He stopped, hit his forehead on one of the wooden pillars, groaned. “This is what it is about. Love.” He closed his eyes, counted to ten, then let his thoughts settle. “I’m a little scared of Anna, yes. Because of how vulnerable she makes me feel, yeah? It’s as if she can see right inside me. I’m afraid of messing up and losing her. Love is scary, Sven. Love is scary! Aaaaaah!”

Sven booped his nose on Kristoff’s neck. He sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s important to let it out. Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!” He took a deep breath. Sven poked him with his horns. “I know! I need a better way to work through my emotions. Maybe I’ll start, I don’t know. Sculpting. Ice Sculpting. Maybe Elsa can give me a few tips – ah, damn it, and we’re back to Elsa.”

Sven settled down onto the hay, and Kristoff ran his hand through his fur. “I’m not afraid she’ll hurt me, Sven – though, yeah, if I mess things up with Anna, she’ll definitely hurt me, but I’d wanna punch me if I did that too. No, I’m afraid – ugh.”

“You’re afraid you’ll disappoint her,” a voice from above said.

“Right! I’m afraid _I’ll_ hurt her, or, or hurt Anna, and – aaah!” He jumped back, his voice three tones too high, and turned around. “Anna! How long have you been there?”

She climbed down from a high wooden beam where she'd been perched, smiling, and Kristoff felt his heart race and his cheeks burn.

“From the beginning. I was waiting for you here, but then you started talking, and then I just didn’t want to interrupt you.” She stood on tiptoes, planted a kiss on his lips.

Kristoff replayed his words in his mind, reminding himself that if he’d said anything wrong, Anna would have told him by now. It did little for his anxiety. “You, uh, you weren’t supposed to hear that. I hope I didn’t say anything wrong.”

“You mean, when you were pouring your heart out to your reindeer?” Anna slapped the back of his head, and he made a sound of protest. She poked him on the chest. “All I found out is that there isn’t a bad thing in that heart of yours, Kristoff.” Anna shook her head. “I’m sorry I didn’t speak up sooner. I should have.”

“It’s okay.” Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck, looked away. “You know, I… it’s hard for me to talk about…stuff.” He sighed. “But we’re… if we’re…” _going to get married,_ “Well. What I mean is that I should start letting people in.”

“You should, but at your own pace. It was wrong of me to trespass.” She pressed her forehead to his chest, and he found himself running his fingers over her hair. “Forgive me?”

“Yes.” He wrapped his arm around her neck and rested his chin on the top of her head. Anna pressed her lips on his neck. She was warm against his body, except for the cold fingers dancing over his ribs. “I love you.”

He could feel her smiling against his skin. He loved her scent, her gentleness, her joy. “I love you, too. And, Kristoff?”

“Mmh?”

“Just ask her the damn thing, you dork. You know what? Next bingo night. I’ll find some excuse to slip away, take Olaf with me. You can ask her then. How does that sound?”

 _Terrifying,_ he thought. “Good. Sounds good.”

“Then it’s a deal.”

* * *

“Um, three letters. Ice.” He picked up three small wooden tiles, moved them to the scrabble board.

Elsa arched an eyebrow at him, and took a tile from the pile, then another and another. It might have seemed counter-intuitive, when the point of scrabble was to get rid of all your letter-tiles, but he knew Elsa. She’d accumulate more and more and more letters, and then lay twenty-nine of them down all at once with a word like _‘floccinaucinihilipilification.’_

He did not like playing word games with the sisters, because they were competitive, and they had the vocabulary of people who'd spent a decade with books as their sole company. He was going to lose this game to Elsa. He was going to lose really, really badly. But he did not mind it, because maybe that would put her in a good mood.

Then maybe she’d let him marry her sister.

“Seven letters, ‘probity’.” She put the letters on the board, making use of the ‘I’ he’d left on the previous turn.

“Is that even a word?” he mumbled, taking a cube. _A ‘Q’. Perfect. What can I even make with a Q? Q-ill me now? No, wait –_

“Of course it is.” Elsa sat on the couch opposite to him, legs crossed. Her back was straight – Elsa did not slouch. Ever. She looked perpetually regal. “It means ‘honesty’. Something which I –” she paused, leaned forward, met his eyes. “Greatly appreciate, Kristoff.”

He picked up the next title, but it slipped between his fingers, and he almost let it fall to the ground. “Um, yes. Good one. My turn. Five letters, ‘quill’.”

Elsa’s icy blue eyes tracked his movements with an impassive expression. “And I’m going to use that ‘q’ for my next word. Eleven letters, ‘unequivocal’.” She moved the wooden pieces, hiding the ones she didn’t use behind her hand. “It means clear, unambiguous. Direct. No-nonsense. All good traits in a person, don’t you agree?”

_Oh, by the gods._

“Yes, definitely. So, my next word is going to be…” _a word, a word, a word, oh shit I can’t do this anymore,_ “Look. There’s something I need to ask you.”

“Go ahead, then.” Elsa leaned carefully flipped each of her remaining tiles upside down so that he couldn’t see the letters on them. He watched her fingers move with expert precision. He swallowed dryly. “Kristoff? Are you going to ask me or not?”

He raised his palms, “Okay, I…” he made a nondescript sound of anguish. Elsa leaned back against the couch, arched an eyebrow. Kristoff was sweating. “I, uh…” _be direct, be direct, just get it out,_ “May-I-have-your-blessing-to-marry-your-sister?”

“Oh, Kristoff.” Elsa looked at him for what had to have been less than a second, but felt like ages. And then she smiled, a sight so rare it took his brain a moment to catch up with his eyes. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“What – wait, does that mean –”

Elsa reached out to the wooden titles she’d laid down, still smiling, tapped her nails on the wooden table. “Six letters,” She revealed each one of them, moved them to the board. “You may.”

He stared at the boards, his heart drumming, and if he wasn’t reading the same words she'd just spoken, he might have been unable to believe it. Elsa exposed her open palms, no tiles left. “I believe I win this game,” she said, but he barely heard her.

“Yes!” He jumped from the couch, sending the board flying as he did. “Yes, I – oh, damn, the board, I’m sorry –”

“It’s fine.”

“I have to tell my family, oh gods, oh gods, this is happening, I’m going to do it, I’m getting married, I need to plan my proposal –” He walked to the door without thinking, then froze, turned around. “Shit – I mean, damn – no, that’s bad, this is so rude, I’m so sorry –”

“It’s all right, Kristoff.” She waved him off, then crossed her arms. “Go. You’re excused.”

“ – thank you, thank you!” He wanted to hug her, but Elsa was very particular about the moments when she wanted to be touched, and he was a bundle of nervous energy, so instead he all but ran out the door. And then he stopped, turned around, ran back in. “I love you, sister!”

Elsa acknowledged him with the slightest curl of her lips and a nod. She didn’t say it back, but she didn’t need to. Kristoff knew all too well that feelings were one tough mess to sort through. He went down the stairs jumping two steps at a time, breaking into an incontrollable fit of giggles.

He could almost swear, as he raced to the barn, that he heard Elsa laughing with him.

**Author's Note:**

> "but buttons I thought you only ever wrote lesbians"
> 
> it is easy to forget it but i'm actually bi
> 
> i am attracted to:  
> \- kristoff bjorgman  
> \- every fictional female within my age range i have ever come in contact with
> 
> special thanks to [meadows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/diamond_dusted/pseuds/diamond_dusted) for taking the time to read this through and beta it for me <3


End file.
